Business News

These apps allow workers to get paid between paychecks. Experts say there are steep costs

NEW YORK (AP) — More people are using so-called Earned Wage Access apps to get money to pay bills and buy groceries in between paydays. The typical user earns less than $50,000 a year, according to the Government Accountability Office, and has experienced the pinch of two years of high inflation. Proponents say the service helps those living paycheck to paycheck balance their budgets. Some consumer advocates and lawmakers say the fees and “tips” make Earned Wage Access comparable to payday loans. While Congress considers a federal bill, some states are taking steps to rein in the fees.

General Motors reports strong first-quarter profits as prices help offset small US sales dip

DETROIT (AP) — Despite a small dip in U.S. vehicle sales, General Motors’ first-quarter net income rose more than 25% on strong deliveries of pickup trucks and other higher-profit vehicles. The Detroit automaker said that while its average sales price per vehicle was down slightly from last year at just under $50,000, pickup sales remained strong. GM said it’s not seeing the price erosion across its lineup that other companies have experienced. GM on Tuesday said it made $2.97 billion from January through March, with revenue increasing 7.6% over the same period a year ago to just over $43 billion. Excluding one-time items the company made $2.62 per share, beating Wall Street estimates of $2.13, according to FactSet.

Stock market today: Wall Street rallies and adds to its hot start to the week

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rallying on Wall Street and adding to their hot start to the week. The S&P 500 was up 1.1% Tuesday, pulling further out of the hole created by a six-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 240 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.5%. A flood of earnings reports is dictating trading. Danaher was one of the strongest forces lifting the market after reporting stronger profit than expected. General Motors and Kimberly-Clark also rose following their reports. A preliminary update suggesting a slowdown in growth for U.S. business activity also helped Treasury yields to ease.

The world’s largest 3D printer is at a university in Maine. It just unveiled an even bigger one

ORONO, Maine (AP) — The university that boasts the world’s largest 3D printer developed one even bigger. A printer unveiled Tuesday at the University of Maine is four times larger than the current one and is capable of printing ever mightier objects. That includes scaling up its bio-based 3D-printed home technology to eventually demonstrate how printed neighborhoods can offer affordable housing. The thermoplastic polymer printer was dubbed the “Factory of the Future 1.0.” It can print objects 96 feet long by 32 feet wide by 18 feet high. And it has a voracious appetite, consuming as much as 500 pounds of raw material per hour.

America’s child care crisis is holding back moms without college degrees

AUBURN, Wash. (AP) — The high costs and limited availability of quality child care are holding back American moms without college degrees. Women’s participation in the workforce has recovered from the pandemic, reaching historic highs in December. But that masks a lingering employment crisis among moms who lack a college degree. For these moms, a day without work is often a day without pay. And when they face an interruption in child care arrangements, an adult in the family is far more likely to adjust by giving up work, according to an analysis of U.S. Census survey data by The Associated Press.

GoFundMe expands into Mexico as part of for-profit crowdfunding platform’s international growth

NEW YORK (AP) — GoFundMe is expanding into Mexico, the company announced Tuesday. That marks 20 countries now serviced by the crowdfunding giant. CEO Tim Cadogan says the for-profit platform is eyeing new international targets now that COVID-19’s unprecedented campaign levels have eased to pre-pandemic figures. Mexico remains a country where about half the population lives in poverty. Likeminded networks already exist in Mexico but Cadogan says GoFundMe is well positioned because of its strong brand awareness, advantageous pricing structure and security protections. The rollout will inform the company’s consideration of other parts of Latin American. Cadogan says GoFundMe wants to serve more countries but first needs to see how this expansion goes to better understand the Latin American market.

Federal Trade Commission sues to block Tapestry’s $8.5B acquisition of Capri

NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission sued to block Tapestry, Inc.’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri Holdings Ltd., saying that the deal would eliminate direct head-to-head competition between the fashion companies’ brands like Coach and Michael Kors in the so-called affordable luxury handbag arena. The agency also said Monday that the deal, announced in August 2023, also threatens to eliminate the incentive for the two companies to compete for employees and could depress employees’ wages and workplace benefits. The combined Tapestry and Capri would employ roughly 33,000 people worldwide, the agency said.

Starbucks takes on the federal labor agency before the US Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in a case filed by Starbucks against the National Labor Relations Board. The case stems from Starbucks’ firing of seven workers who were trying to unionize their store in Memphis, Tennessee. The labor board asked a court to intervene and a federal judge ordered Starbucks to rehire the workers. Starbucks wants the Supreme Court to curb the board’s power in such cases. Workers at 420 company-owned U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since late 2021, but none of those stores have secured a labor agreement with Starbucks. Company and union representatives plan to meet Wednesday for their first bargaining session in nearly a year.

Google fires more workers who protested its deal with Israel

An activist group says Google fired at least 20 more workers in the aftermath of protests over technology the company is supplying the Israeli government amid the Gaza war. It said that brings the total number of terminated staff to 50. It’s the latest sign of internal turmoil at the tech giant centered on “Project Nimbus,” a $1.2 billion contract signed in 2021 for Google and Amazon to provide the Israeli government with cloud computing and artificial intelligence services. Workers held sit-in protests last week at Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California. The company responded by calling police, who made arrests.

UnitedHealth says wide swath of patient files may have been taken in Change cyberattack

UnitedHealth says files with personal information that could cover a “substantial portion of people in America” may have been taken in the cyberattack on its Change Healthcare business. The company said Monday after markets closed that it sees no signs that doctor charts or full medical histories were released after the attack. But it may take several months of analysis before UnitedHealth can identify and notify people who were affected. It has launched a website and call center to answer questions. The company also is offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection for people affected by the attack.